With petition season upon us, Staten Island Democrats are once again holding a contest to see who can bring in the most signatures.

The top four petition gatherers will get free tickets to the $175-per-head Chairman's Reception this summer and will receive a "golden clipboard" engraved with their names.

Anybody who brings in at least 30 signatures (the equivalent of two petition sheets) will receive a vintage lapel pin from Robert F. Kennedy's 1964 U.S. Senate campaign in New York.

That's only fitting, given North Shore Assemblyman John Lavelle's devotion to RFK. The late Lavelle, who was also the borough Democratic chairman, often described RFK as the greatest man who was never elected president.

The pins, by the way, come from Democrat Alan Lasher, who recently donated a collection of political memorabilia spanning decades to the party.

The top 20 petition-gatherers will be listed in the journal at the party's fall dinner-dance.